The International Office
Paris, 24 June 2019
The international Association of Art Critics (AICA) is a global organisation, established in 1948 by UNESCO, comprising art critics who are actively engaged in improving International cooperation in the fields of artistic creativity, mediation and endeavour.
AICA believes that freedom of expression and thought is an important principle and as a basic civil right must be defended. A hallmark of any democracy is its willingness to allow, consider and withstand critical as well as benign points of view and to accommodate divergent artistic expressions.
We are concerned the Hong Kong government has proposed a fugitive/extradition legislation to the People's Republic of China. We therefore endorse the open letter by AICA Hong Kong of 13 June, which expresses the concern the proposed law enables extradition to a country where human rights, judicial independence and freedom of expression do not currently fulfil international standards, according to the UN's Human Rights Council in March 2019.
Although the proposed law was repealed, AICA International calls upon the Hong Kong government to refrain from introducing the law in the future.
Yours sincerely,
Lisbeth Rebollo Robert-Jan Muller
President AICA international AICA Committee on Censorship and Freedom of Expression (Chair)
——-> Downloadable version (.pdf) HERE